Strangers In The Night - Prelude : The Hunt

'Karl? Karl, are you there?'

I slowly opened my eyes to see who had called out to me. Snowflakes gently twirled through the air, carried on the buckling back of a soft breeze. The autumn's fallen leaves had all but disappeared under the crisp blanket of fresh snow. I had to squint to stop the flurries from getting in my eyes. They had already formed patches of white in my eyebrows and hair. As I breathed the snowflakes on my upper lip melted and small drops of cool water ran down the creases in my skin.

'Is… Is anyone there?' I called out softly, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention.

Peering out between the lichen-encrusted trunks of the trees around me I tried to make out any movement. Not a thing stirred in the eerie undergrowth of dead ferns and fallen branches. I wrapped my cloak around my body tightly, appreciating the warmth and comfort that it gave me. Concentrating on the sound my boots made as they crunched the snow I kept walking.

'Karl, listen to the voices!'

There it was again. I stopped and took my sword from its scabbard. The rasping heard as the blade parted from it's casing was painfully loud in the silence that surrounded me. Something was out there and I knew it. It must have followed the tracks I had left in the snow. Cursing myself for not covering them I slowly turned around, taking in my surroundings.

'This is your last warning, come out!' I said halfhearted, trying to mask the fear in my voice.

As if the gods were playing a cruel game with my mind, the wind suddenly picked up. More and more snow filled my field of vision until the trees surrounding me were blurry shapes in a maelstrom of white. Laughing filled the air and my blood ran cold. Whoever had been shadowing me felt confident enough to openly mock me. Confidence was never a good thing to see in a foe.

'You amuse me, Karl. Your kind always does.'

The hail of snow slowly died down and the trees became visible once more. They seemed more akin to imposing ghouls than plants. I looked back from where I had come and was shocked to see that my tracks had been completely covered. No going back now, I thought. The voice sounded different this time. It sounded clearer, more audible. My heart stopped; it sounded closer.

'Don't try to run Karl, I will hunt you and find you, wherever you go.'

My senses went numb and my vision blurry. I could feel the fingers around the hilt of my sword slowly relaxing, letting the blade slip from my hand. It landed in the snow at my feet, my reflection showing in the polished metal. I was completely defenseless now and I wanted to run away, run to somewhere safe, anywhere but here; but my legs weren't responding. I stood there motionless in the snow, the wind softly playing with my hair, tugging at the loose end of my cloak. And somewhere out there waited someone, or something.

'Ah, it seems you have decided to stay, I think I can trust you.'

My legs started to tingle and I tried to move them again. Slowly my left foot moved forward, fracturing the frozen layer of snow like a hammer would fracture a mirror. I bent over and tried to pick up my sword when I saw something in the corner of my eye. Standing there silently between two ancient oaks was a cloaked figure. He was no more than ten feet away from me and I could smell a sickly sweet mixture of vanilla and weirdroot.

'Ah, it seems you intend opposition,' said the figure, 'good, I could use the exercise.'

I grabbed my sword gently by the hilt and lifted it up to my waist. Two large hands decorated with countless golden rings emerged from under the black velvet cloak of the stranger. There was no chance I was going to risk death, not in the middle of some forest. Bracing myself I turned around and started to run. Without looking back to see if I was being followed I darted between the trees ahead of me.

Risking a glance over my shoulder I saw nobody following me. It had stopped snowing and visibility was nearly perfect. My foot snagged an exposed tree root and I went down hard. I landed face first in the cold snow, inhaling nothing but ice crystals for a second until I realized what happened. I sprung to my feet and allowed myself to catch my breath. Exhausted from the running I slumped against a fallen tree, sitting down on its rotten trunk.

'How on earth didn't I notice that man before?' I asked myself quietly.

My breath turned into small clouds as I kept panting. I had been running blindly through the forest for over ten minutes now. It was a wonder I hadn't tripped earlier. Looking up at the sky I could see the sun was beginning to set. Night was not something I'd prefer to spend out here, so I stood up and prepared to move on.

'That was quite an impressive sprint Karl,' said a voice behind me.

I turned around to see the cloaked man sitting on the tree trunk. He just sat there toying with a pendant that hung from his neck. The stranger had sat down on the exact same spot that I had just used to rest, but how he did so without making a sound was beyond me. I had had enough; I was tired, cold and scared. Dropping my sword on the ground besides me I crouched and sighed, looking up at the man.

'You got me,' I started, 'what is it you want?'

The man looked at me with cold blue eyes. They seemed to pierce my very soul, to urge me into telling this man, this perfect stranger, my most treasured secrets. He waved a lock of raven-black hair out of the way, revealing a long slender face. It reminded me of the aristocracy often seen in paintings by renowned artists. He gestured me to sit next to him and I did so. Why, I do not know.

'It is not so much what I want,' he said with a soothing voice, 'as more what I want to show you.'

I gave him a quizzical look. He looked back at me and smiled. It seemed as though this was a practiced routine for him, something he had rehearsed many times. Slowly raising his hand he put his fingers to his lips and whistled. I waited for a carriage to arrive, but none came. Instead the whistle was answered by a gut-wrenching howl. It sounded like a wolf, but it had something more, something monstrous.

'First,' he started to say as he grinned once again, 'let me obtain an escort.'